


Snowed In

by Stratagem



Series: Resistance AU [3]
Category: The Gifted (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Gen, heating systems in old buildings are terrible
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-06
Updated: 2018-01-07
Packaged: 2019-03-01 00:28:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13283088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stratagem/pseuds/Stratagem
Summary: The heating system at the HQ dies, leaving the whole building rather chilly. The Underground is sure they can fix it, but a snow storm rolls in and knocks the power out. With no heat and no power, the Underground isn't having a great week. However, there's a little bit of fun to be had since snow is rare in Atlanta.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place in the Resistance AU, right after the first Underground Christmas. Also has a side of pre-dating BFF Tracklight. <3 Fic will be multi-chaptered!

It was late, and most of the Underground HQ was asleep. The corridors and hallways were quiet, and there were only a few people lingering in the common areas, talking in low voices. The heating system was on the fritz, so there were a couple space heaters and low-burning makeshift metal fire pits sitting around the building. In one of the common areas, a terrible sci-fi movie was playing its end credits, the peppy action music waking up Clarice.

She had drifted off some time, probably after the random dance sequence. While she didn’t mind intentionally awful movies, she had mainly agreed to watch it because Ali and James had never seen it and both of them had been very into the idea of a deadly piranha monsoon, which is what the movie had been about. Piranha Storm, or something ridiculous like that. However…

Glancing over, she saw that they were both asleep in front of the TV, Ali curled up on her side, her back against James’ side. James was on his stomach, arms wrapped around a pillow, his head close to Ali’s. They had separate blankets but a second, bigger one had been tossed across both of them. She was dead sure she knew who had flung that blanket over them.

“They crashed before you,” John said, “If you want to rub that in their faces tomorrow.”

“I sure do, thank you,” she said, “I love boasting about my victory to teenagers.”

John huffed, his breath ruffling her hair. She shifted against him, pulling the blanket that was wrapped around her legs tighter. Even with the heaters, it was chilly in the old bank. It was too spacious, and it was difficult to keep the whole place warm even when the heater wasn’t cutting dead. However, John was a pretty good heater all by himself.

“Did you watch the whole thing?” she asked, glancing up at him, the back of her head against his shoulder.

“Sort of.”

“I want a breakdown of the plot, scene by scene.”

“Ah, well.” His fingers played against her waist. “There was a small town, somewhere up north. And some killer fish. The fish turned out to be mutant fish in the end, by the way.”

Clarice snorted, not in the least bit surprised. “Of course.”

“Of course,” he echoed in a deadpan voice, “Anyways, some stuff happened. Then more things happened in the middle. People died horrible piranha deaths. Lots of blood. Then it ended.”

Clarice hummed in fake appreciation. “Wow, that was a simply amazing synopsis, such attention to detail.”

“I thought you’d like that.”

She looked up at him, taking in the crease in his forehead, the tension in his eyes. “Penny for your thoughts, Superman.”

John pulled her closer, situating her so he could rest his chin on top of her head. “Hmm…”

She pushed her fingertips against his arms, barely making an indentation in his super tough skin but insistent all the same. “A dime, and that’s my final offer.”

“You jumped from a penny to a dime. Where was the nickel offer? I didn’t know you were so terrible at haggling.”

“That is an awful word, haggling, and I thought I’d just go for the final bargain and save us some time.” She tilted her head back a little and then forward, forcing him to nod. “So yes, Clarice,” she said, mimicking his voice, “Yes, my love, my darling, I’ll tell you my deep leader-y inner thoughts.”

A quiet laugh rumbled in John’s chest and he pressed a kiss to her neck. “I’m worried.” That was nothing new, so she stayed quiet, giving him the time he needed, tracing patterns on his arm. He sighed and rested his forehead against her for a moment. “It’s colder than usual, and with the heat acting up, we’re probably going to have some kind of sickness sweep through here. It might be just a cold, but it might be worse.”

She would be lying if she hadn’t had a similar thought that day when the heating system started spluttering and dying its slow, agonizing death. The drafty bank had certainly gotten a lot colder. Marcos had even mentioned that he wouldn’t be surprised if half the place caught a cold, so it was something that more than one person was worried about.

She felt him turn his head, and she knew he was looking at Ali and James, who were younger than most of the Underground. He was concerned about them, about them getting sick, and judging by the way he was holding her tight, he was worried about her too.

“We’re going to fix the heat tomorrow, keep that in mind,” she said, “And we could ask Quinn if she can get us some meds.” Quinn Thomason was their new contact, an RN who worked at the mutant hospital a few towns away. It was a far drive in order to meet up with her, and they had to be careful, but she had given them some supplies before. She couldn’t really patch anyone up since that would mean either taking them to her or her coming to HQ, and while Quinn was willing to help them, doing that would potentially compromise her. She had a family, too, and she was taking a risk just by getting them supplies.

“That’s a good idea, but we don’t even know what we would need yet.”

“We could wait. Maybe she could at least tell us what’s common for now,” Clarice said, “That way we’re in the know.”

“It’ll probably be the flu. Just watch it be the flu.”

“Or maybe it’ll be stuffy noses all around,” Clarice said, “You don’t know.”

John was quiet but she could feel the underlying need to protect everyone in the HQ, even if it was from illness. He was spinning on the idea, trying to build up defenses, figure out ways to keep them safe.

“Hey, you and me, when we’re out getting those parts for the heating, let’s pick up some vitamins and stuff, okay?” Clarice said. She pulled away from him and turned around so she could look him in the eye. “We have that extra cash, we could get some Airborne and shit and force everyone to take it.” She smiled, hoping it was contagious. “You can hold James down and I’ll make him eat Flintstone gummies or something.”

That got a barely-there smile from John, but he _did_ smile. “Yeah…yeah, we could do that.”

“You have to take them too,” she said, raising an eyebrow at him. “Got it?” Being super strong and extra tough to hurt didn’t mean jackshit when it came to getting sick, not that John or James ever though about that. She hadn’t seen either of them get sick yet, but James walked around without a jacket all the time and John would make sure everyone got vitamins and preventives before himself because he was just like that.

John must have seen the fire in her eyes because he nodded, no protesting. “Yes, ma’am,” he said, wearing a half-smile.

She playfully jabbed at his chest with her pointer finger. “You know I hate being called ma’am.”

John’s smile widened and he wrapped his arms around her, drawing her back against his warm chest. “You’re right, I do know that.”

Clarice grumbled a little, settling against him. “We’re going to have to wake the kids up.”

“Let them sleep,” he said, “They’re fine, and it’s warm here. They’ve got lots of blankets.”

“No kidding.” Clarice snuggled against him, leaning her head on his shoulder. “You should pick a new movie, then.”

His fingers brushed her temple. “Okay, which movie would you like to fall asleep to during the first five minutes it’s on?”

Oh, he was doing that on purpose. She would hardly be able to resist the tug of sleep when he was doing that. “I said you pick. So. You pick.” Her hand fumbled for the remote on the table, the one that would patch them back to the system one of the mutants passing through had set up so they could all illegally watch Netflix, though they were supposed to use it to watch the live news.

Clarice was asleep so fast that she didn’t even find out what it was that John picked in the end.


	2. Chapter 2

“Why do I feel like we’re walking into an ambush?”

“Because your intuition is spot on,” John said, pausing at the top of the steps. “Since that’s exactly what this is.”

Down by the four-wheel drive truck, James and Ali were leaning against the passenger door, looking like they were ready to go somewhere. Hats, coats, gloves, scarves. Which for Ali was normal, but James rarely wore a coat, even when Clarice, John, or Marcos yelled at him. If he was wearing a coat, that meant he was trying to fit in and not be conspicuous in the freezing cold weather.

James and Ali being out at the truck was not the plan. This was a trap.

John and Clarice looked at each other, mentally prepared for a verbal battle, and headed down the steps.

“No,” John said as the two fifteen-year-olds stepped forward, James in the lead, a quarrel burning in his dark eyes.

“We didn’t even say anything yet,” James protested.

John nodded, lips pressed into a straight line. “Yeah. And whatever you’re going to say, the answer is no.”

“That’s a little harsh, John,” Ali said, crossing her arms over her chest and moving toward Clarice. The morning was chilly and brisk, and everyone’s breath was visible in the air. “We have a good plan.”

“I’m sure you do, and that’s great, but we told you yesterday you couldn’t go,” Clarice said. She jostled her arm, rubbing her coat against Ali’s and warming both of them for a second. “You can’t be super shocked that the answer hasn’t changed since then. It hasn’t even been twelve hours.”

“Okay, but we talked more about it, and we have counterarguments,” Ali said. She bounced on her toes, clapping her gloved hands together, most likely excited about even the possibility of leaving Headquarters and doing something that could be considered a mission. John felt bad about keeping the kids there all the time while they were itching to help in a more hands-on way, but it was dangerous out in Atlanta. Especially dangerous for mutants who used their powers to help other mutants.

Ali darted back over to James, standing by his side to present a solid team. James leaned against the truck, determination and stubbornness on his face. While both of them often asked to tag along with the older Underground members, James was the one who was the most frustrated about always being shot down.

“You’re not sixteen. Neither of you,” John said, “We all agreed that you two could start in on very minor missions when you’re sixteen.” He started to walk around the front of the truck. “Not before then.”

James reached out and caught his arm. “Come on, you could at least hear us out.”

John sighed and looked back at Clarice and then wished he hadn’t. She was always more willing to hear the other side, especially when it came from James and Ali. She sympathized with their rebellious natures. Clarice shrugged, and John stopped, sticking his hands in his pockets and looking at the kids expectantly.

With that opportunity, James and Ali launched into their presentation.

“We want to go along with you and split the work,” James said, “Instead of us just tagging along. You guys go to the hardware store and we’ll go to Wal-Mart and get the supplies we need. In Alfretta, there’s a Wal-Mart and a Lowes right near each other. It’d take less time, we could all be in and out in thirty minutes.”

“And we wouldn’t look out of place if we go by ourselves,” Ali put in, “We’ll just look like a couple of kids running errands for their parents.”

John was already shaking his head, so James jumped in and spoke faster, irritation getting the better of him. “You’re always talking about how we need more experience. How are we supposed to get that if you never let us help?”

Clarice lifted an eyebrow. “Are you saying you want more work to do? Because there are still rooms we haven’t even touched that need to be cleaned out.”

“Not chores,” James said, making a face, “This is different.”

“James turns sixteen next month and I’ll be sixteen two months after that,” Ali said, “So this could be like a trial run.” She held up her hand, thumb and forefinger close together. “A little baby one.  You guys will be five minutes away and we can call if we run into trouble. Which we won’t.”

“It’ll take a lot less time than you doing it all on your own,” James said, “Less time in town.”

“If we were that worried about it, we would have asked someone else to come with us already,” John said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“But you _know_ us,” Ali said, “You can trust us with money and we can pass for human.” She tugged on the toboggan she was wearing, pulling it down further to cover her bubblegum pink roots.

“And Marcos is still all banged up,” James said, “So he can’t go.”

At the moment, there weren’t many permanent members of the Underground HQ team. The Underground had been established back in March, and they were slowly adding people to the team but a lot of them had gone on already to be safehouse and way station leaders. Gus had been with them at first, but he had gone to set up a major way station in South Carolina. Marcos and Shatter were there, but Shatter couldn’t go out in public since he was easily recognizable and wanted and Marcos had gotten injured while repairing the roof with one of the other mutants. Divinity was a new addition to the team, a twenty-something who could go intangible, but like Shatter, she was easy to spot due to physical mutations. Clarice could cover most of her differences, especially in this weather, so she was able to go with John. Still, she was mostly going along as back-up and wouldn’t go into the stores.

“You want to get back and fix the heating, right?” James said, “Then let us go.”

John frowned and wished Marcos was well enough to go with them. He didn’t like taking the kids, it would put them both at risk since they were already on the Sentinel Services radar. But the likelihood that someone would figure out that they were mutants was also very low.

He turned toward Clarice, asking her opinion with a look. She worried her lip for a moment, watching the kids, then glanced back at John. She didn’t like the idea very much, but they had a point. And they did need some experience… Finally, John dipped his head in a defeated nod.

“But you can’t use your powers at all,” Clarice said, holding up her hands as James grinned and Ali bobbed on her toes again. “Not even on accident. So no lights, no super strength, no glowing, no tracking Ali through Wal-Mart. You get a weird look on your face when you track.”

“John looks weirder,” James said, “He looks all—” He blinked and froze, looking spaced out for a moment.

“You look exactly the same,” Ali said, grabbing his arm.

“Do not.”

“Are you two listening to Clarice?” John said, “That rule is law. The only reason you can use your power is if you’re in trouble. And you will _not_ be getting into trouble.”

“Yeah, no, we won’t,” James said.

“Go inside and get a burner,” John said, wondering if he was going to regret this. The two of them took off, James’ longer legs getting him up the steps quicker than Ali. He rubbed at his face. “Should I go into Wal-Mart with them?”

“It’ll be faster if they go alone, just like they said,” Clarice said, “And they’re right, the Lowes isn’t far away.”

John didn’t say anything, he just watched the front door, waiting for the kids. Clarice stepped to his side and ran her hand down his arm and squeezed his elbow. “They’re growing up. You did say they could go on missions when they turn sixteen.”

“With us. Not alone.”

Clarice smiled. “We’ll be right there. Overprotective much?”

John rolled his eyes, though he had to admit, she was right. Maybe he was being too protective when it came to the kids. It was their fight, too. Still it was hard to think of them as future team members as they exploded back out of the HQ, grinning and laughing, James stealing Ali’s hat and her tugging at his coat, demanding he give it back.


End file.
